Stock feed dispensing cart



Sept. ll, 1956 2,762,531

S..J. HAUGEN lSTOCK FEED DISPENSING CART Filed sept. 9, 1955 2sheefs-sneet 1 ATTE/VE YS Sept. 11, 1956 Filed Sept. 9, 1955 S. J.HAUGEN STOCK FEED DISPENSING CART 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZZ u INVENTOR. F/G. 4Yea/v d. Maag/v ATT/Z/VEYS United States Patent O STOCK FEED DISPENSINGCART Syreu J. Haugen, Coon Valley, Wis.

Application September 9, 1955, Serial No. 533,383

Z Claims. (Cl. 222-177) The present invention relates to a stock feeddispensing cart.

An object of the present invention is to provide a stock feeddispensingY cart which automatically dispenses stock feed inequally-spaced piles upon a floor or into aoor-supported feed trough.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stock feeddispensing cart which has means for regulating the amount of stock feedthat it dispenses in equallyspaced piles upon a floor or into a feedtrough.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a stock feeddispensing cart which has means for preventing the stock feed fromclogging in the dispensing opening.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a stockfeed dispensing cart which is sturdy in lconstruction, one simple instructure having few parts, and one commercially practical and highlyeffective in action.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will befully apparent from the following description when taken in connectionwith the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational View of the cart of the present invention,with a portion of one side wall broken away showing the construction ofthe hopper-shaking and feedcontrol mechanisms,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the assembly of Figure l, with a portion ofthe hopper broken away showing the shaking and dispensing mechanisms,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure ,1, l

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure l, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary View, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line6-6 of Figure 4.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings in which like numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several views, the stock feeddispensing cart of the present invention is designated generally by thereference numeral 10 and comprises a platform 11 having spaced sideedges 12 and 13 and a pair of .caster wheels .14 and 15 supporting oneend of the platform 11.

A horizontally-disposed drive shaft 16 extends transversely of theplatform 11 adjacent the end opposite tothe endhaving the caster wheels14 and 15 and is mounted on the platform for rotation in a clockwisedirection. Drive wheels 17 and 18 are secured one to each end of thedrive shaft 16 for rotation therewith and with the caster wheels 14 and15 support the platform 11 for rolling movement over a ground or othersupporting surface, the latter being indicated in Figures l and 3 by thereference numeral 19.

Side walls 21 and 22 rise from the opposite side edges of the platform11 and end walls 23 and 24 rise from the end edges of the platform 11,the upper end portions of the side walls 21 and 22 and the end walls 23and 24 together with sloping inner walls 25 and 26 which have their Heetop ends abutting the side walls 21 and 22, respectively, and innerwalls 27 and 28 which have their top ends abutting the end walls 23 and24, respectively, forming a hopper designated generally by the referencenumeral The hopper 29 has a discharge opening 31 in its bottom and isfixedly supported upon the platform 11 so that the discharge opening 31is spaced above the platform 11. A carriage 32 having a bottomlessdispensing pocket 33 adjacent one end thereof is positioned transverselyof and between the side edges 12 and 13 of the platform 11 with itspocket 33 in registry with the discharge opening 31 in the hopperbottom. The carriage 32 is mounted on the platform 11 for movement fromthe position in which its pocket 33 is in registry with the dischargeopening 31 to a position in which its pocket 33 is projected beyond theadjacent side edge 13 of the platform 11. The carriage 32 is of boxlikedrawer construction and includes a vertically-disposed front face 34,side walls 35 and 36 having their front ends connected to the front face34, and an end member 37 connecting the other ends of the side walls 35and 36 together, as seen in Figure 4. A bottom 38 extends between theside walls 35 and 36 of the carriage rearwardly of a partition 39 which,with the front face 34 and the adjacent portions of the side walls 35and 36 defines the boundaries of the pocket 33. Guide walls 41 and 42rising from the platform 11 form the means for connecting the carriage32 to the platform 11 for its transverse movement on the platform 11.

Means operatively connects the carriage 32 to the drive shaft 16 formovement of the carriage 32 from the position in which the pocket 33 isin registry with the hopper discharge opening 31 to the position inwhich the pocket 33 is projected beyond the adjacent side edge of theplatform 11, the latter position being indicated by dotted lines inFigures 2 and 3. Specifically, such means comprises, as seen in Figure2, a drive gear 43 mounted upon the drive shaft 16 intermediate the endsof the latter and in mesh with a gear 44 which is mounted upon a drivenshaft 45 intermediate the ends of the driven shaft 45, the latter beingjournaled for rotation in the side walls 21 and 22. A bevel gear 46 isfixedly secured to the driven shaft 45 and is in mesh with a secondbevel gear 47 which has a cam arm 4S projecting from its periphery onthe lower face thereof. A guideway 49 supports an actuating slide member51 between its sides, as shown most clearly in Figure 6, the slidemember 45 having a cam roller 52 adjacent one end engageable by the camarm 48 to effect the sliding movement of the slide member 51 toward theone side edge 13 of the platform 11, as shown in Figure 3. A spring 53biases the slide menu ber 51 toward the side edge 12 of the platform 11.A lever 54 is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the slidemember 51 adjacent its end remote from the cam roller 52 and has one endpivotally connected to the end member 37 of the carriage 32 and itsother end pivotally mounted for swinging movement about a vertical axison the end wall 23 of the cart. Upon rotation of the bevel gear 47 thecarriage 32 is moved from its position in which the pocket 33 is belowthe discharge opening 31 to a position projected beyond the side edge 13of the platform 11.

A clutch assembly 55 controlled by a handle 56 is mounted upon the driveshaft 16 for selectively connecting the wheels 17 and 18 and the shaft16 to the drive gear 43. Means is provided for continually shaking thestock feed within the hopper 29 as the cart 10 is pushed over theground, such means consisting in a first pulley 57 mounted for rotationupon the driven shaft 45 and a second pulley 58 supported for rotationupon a brace member 59, the pulley 58 and the pulley 57 being connectedby means of a belt 61. The pulley 58 carries a crank pin 62 adjacent itsperiphery. A sliding panel 63.is mounted for longitudinal movement uponthe one inner wall of the hopper 29 with its upper end slidablyconnected to a channel strip member 64. A bracket 65 projecting from thelower face of the panel 63 projects through a slot 66'in the inner wall25 and is connected to one end of a crank'arrn 67, the other end of thecrank larm being pivotally connected to the crank pin 62. Upon rotationof the pulley 58 as a result of the rotation of the driven shaft 45 thesliding panel 63 moves toward and away from the end walls of the cartand serves to shake the stock feed within the -hopper to keep it fromclogging the discharge opening in the hopper bottom.

Means is provided for selectively controlling the flow of the stock feedin the hopper 29 and consists in a gate 68 pivotally connected by apivot pin 69 to the upper ends of the guide walls 41 and 42 andconnected for movement toward and away from the discharge opening in thehopper bottom by means of an operating rod 71 having a crank on its endwhich is exterior of the one end wall 23. The gate 68 is connected to anoffset portion of the rod 71 by means of a pair of brackets 74 overlyingthe offset portion of the rod 71 adjacent each end of the gate 68. Asseen in Figure 5, the crank 73 is held in position by its engagementwith a quadrant 75 having grooves 76 therein for retaining the crank 73in a selected position fully opening the discharge opening in the hopperbottom as shown in full lines inv Figure 3, or partially closing thedischarge opening as shown in dotted lines in that figure.

A deecting board 77 extends along the side edge 13 of the platform 11adjacent to the lower end of the carriage 32 so that the stock feed whenemptied from the pocket 33 in the carriage 32 is deected outwardlybeyond t-he adjacent drive wheel 18.

A handle 78 is provided for manually pushing the cart over a supportingsurface or the ground surface.

In operation, the cart is filled with stock feed and a clutch assemblyis put into operative position by means of the handle 56 and uponrolling movement of the cart and execution of a predetermined setdistance interval of traveling movement of the drive wheels the carriagewill move from its position in which its pocket is in registry with thehopper discharge opening, the stock feed having fallen through thatopening into the pocket, to its position in which the pocket is beyondthe adjacent side edge of the platform, the stock feed then falling intoa pile a predetermined distance from the previous pile of stock feeddeposited by the carriage pocket. This permits the user to feed stockquickly and easily, depositing the correct amount of food required foreach animal either upon the floor surface of a barn or into a feedingtrough extending along the floor of the barn and supported thereon. Itwill be seen that the drive shaft is operable only in a clockwisedirection to eifect the movement of the cam arm 48 into engagement withthe cam roller 52, this clockwise movement of the drive shaft beingeffected by the pushing movement of the cart in one direction only.

What is 'claimed is:

1. A stock feed dispensing cart comprising a platform having spaced sideedges, a pair of caster Wheels supporting one end of said platform, ahorizontally-disposed drive shaft extending transversely of saidplatform adjacent the other end thereof, and mounted on said platformfor rotation in a clockwise direction, a drive wheel secured to each endof said drive shaft for rotation therewith, said caster and drive wheelsSupporting said platform for rolling movement over a ground surface, ahopper having a discharge opening in the bottom thereof fixedlysupported on said platform so that the discharge opening is spaced abovesaid platform, a carriage having a bottomless dispensing pocket adjacentone end thereof positioned transversely of and between the side edges ofsaid platform with its pocket in registry with the discharge opening insaid hopper bottom and mounted on said platform for movement from theposition in which its pocket is in registry with said discharge openingto a position in which its pocket is projected beyond the adjacent sideedge of said platform, means operatively connecting said carriage tosaid drive shaft for movement of said carriage from the position inwhich its pocket is in registry with said hopper discharge opening tothe position in which its pocket is projected beyond the adjacent sideedge of the platform responsive to the execution of a predetermined setdistance interval of traveling movement of said drive wheels along theground surface by rotation of said drive shaft in the clockwisedirection and manually operable gate means positioned within said hopperdischarge opening for selectively controlling the ow of stock feedtherethrough.

2. A stock feed dispensing cart comprising a platform having spaced sideedges, a pair of caster wheels supporting one end of said platform, ahorizontally-disposed drive shaft extending transversely of saidplatform adjacent the other end thereof and mounted on said platform forrotation in a clockwise direction, a drive Wheel secured to each end ofsaid drive shaft for rotation therewith, said caster and drive wheelssupporting said platform for rolling movement over a ground surface, ahopper having a discharge opening in the bottom thereof tixedlysupported on said platform so that the discharge opening is spaced abovesaid platform, a carriage having a bottomless dispensing pocket adjacentone end thereof positioned transversely of and between said side edgesof said platform with its pocket in registry with the discharge openingin said hopper bottom and mounted on said platform for movement from theposition in which its pocket is in registry with said discharge openingto a position in which its pocket is projected beyond the adjacent sideedge of said platform, means operatively connecting said carriage tosaid drive shaft for movement of said carriage from the position inwhich its pocket is in registry with said hopper discharge opening tothe position in which its pocket is projected beyond the adjacent sideedge of the platform responsive to the execution of a predetermined setdistance interval of traveling movement of said drive wheels along theground surface by rotation of said drive shaft in the clockwisedirection,

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Suddithet al. June 26, 1860 Mattox Apr. 15, 1902

